Bibliography

Date first published	1 Oct. 2009
ISBN Number	0 00721 974 2
Page Count	352 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

The latest in the bestselling Alfred series from number one historical novelist, Bernard Cornwell. In the last years of the ninth century, King Alfred of Wessex is in failing health, and his heir is an untested youth.

The Danes, who have failed so many times to conquer Wessex, smell opportunity! First comes Harald Bloodhair, a savage warrior leading a Viking horde, who is encouraged to cruelty by his woman, Skade. But Alfred still has the services of Uhtred, his unwilling warlord, who leads Harald into a trap and, at Farnham in Surrey, inflicts one of the greatest defeats the Vikings were ever to suffer.

This novel, the fifth in the magnificent series of England's history tells of the final assaults on Alfred's Wessex, that Wessex survived to become England is because men like Uhtred defeated an enemy feared throughout Christendom.

Review

This the fifth in the series is another so-so book. Like the previous story it does not quite get going, I'm not exactly sure why it fails, but it definitely feels a bit like a re-hash.

The battles (as always) are well done and the action is as you would expect, it is just the whole book is flat, and does not convey the same fizz as the first three novels. I remember whilst reading parts of the book as if I had read it all before, and certainly some of the bits on honour and the way of describing the thoughts of Uhtred about the Christians is all brought forward from the previous novels.

The story does improve in one way, Alfred is not centre to the story, which does allow for more colourful language than when he and his insufferable priests are hanging around. However without his presence, Uhtred becomes a shell of himself. The two characters are almost symbiotic - as separate entities they are lesser beings, but when together the sparks will fly.

The story starts with Uhtred in the future burning a story of his deeds - which does not include him, but is then forgotten, I'm not sure it works as a device to the story, because you want to know what he is doing at that point in history. With the series it could have started with a brief recap, but there we are.

The death of his wife Gisela, is obviously a plot to bring Alfred and Uhtred together, as he at last gets the chance to be with Aethelflaed, Alfred's daughter, how this will pan out in future books will be interesting as Uhtred is now bound tighter to Alfred and his son Edward than ever before.

The language as always is colourful to the extreme, and brings some light relief in these days of Political Correctness.

Overall, an average book, however still a lot better than some writers produce at the height of their writing skills.

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